Asian kids wasting food

[kasia]

ever wondered why your parents or grandparents eat certain dishes? have they or your parents ever told you stories about their past in China, Korea, or Vietnam, about how food was scarce and what they had to make do with?

my mom is the oldest of five children. when they lived in hong kong, the family of seven shared a single with 1 bunk bed and a cot. food was scarce. their dinners were typically salted fish with rice. sometimes salted pork. a child would get a chicken drumstick maybe on his/her birthday. one orange would be split amongst the entire family - i've heard stories about how my youngest uncle would nibble on his piece slowly to savor the flavor.

after immigrating to america, the children graduated from college, one earned an m.b.a., another an m.b.t., and the oldest daughter married an engineer and moved to one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the Bay Area. their eating habits, however, did not change.

our family used to get together almost weekly at my grandparent's small apartment for dinner. salted fish, etc, was always part of my childhood diet. although we had more fancy dishes than what they had in hong kong in the past, i think they all learned from their past experience, and passed onto us, the importance of not wasting food. when we had fish, there would always be somebody to finish off the fish head. when we had crab, my dad would always create a box lunch for my cousin for the next day with rice and the crab brains (or whatever the yellow stuff is inside the shell). the when we had chicken, we'd make sure to clean the bones. and, of course, my grandfather would eat the butt. the idea of not wasting was so ingrained in us that it seemed natural. today, i am unable to take a eat a piece of chicken and just leave it when there is still meat on the bones. my conscience just won't let me.

not so much in san francisco, but during my time here in los angeles, i've come across so many asian kids who are accustomed to wasting food. here, it is certainly untrendy and definitely embarassing to take food to go. it's like an admission that you can't afford to waste food. many asian kids buy into this. i've also seen how a lot of korean kids eat kalbi. most just toss the bone with a good amount of meat on it. same with chicken. it just makes me think how sad it is that their grandparents lived in such a frugal manner to get to america to create a better life for ingrates like them.

[fossilfuel]

My mom is full of those stories too... about eating watermelon with rice or whatever.

I didn't notice that it was uncool to take a doggie bag in LA... but then again I never ate at anywhere cool.

However, I was exposed to this phenomenon on a daily basis, albeit in a different setting. My parents own a Chinese buffet type restaurant - people, whites and Asians, etc.. alike waste food like you wouldn't believe. I'm not sure exactly why, maybe they feel elevated at the fact that they can "afford" to waste food? It was usually poorer (or people that seemed poorer) that would waste the most too... they'd let their kids play with food and half that shit ended up under the tables sometimes. If you have some sort of policy of not wasting food, it just brings up tons of headaches too.

I was never a food waster before, but after helping out there for a while, I became actively conscious about not wasting food. Well, maybe that and the fact that I am a starving student again :P

[asvenus]

i think this had abit of a detrimental effect on me for a while though..even today i have to force myself to leave food on a plate even when i am sooooo full..i end up feelig really guilty or putting it in the fridge/oven for the next day..when i know im not really going to want to eat it the next dat as it will taste nas-ty..it is bad to foolishly waste food though

[Filiprish]

Cool doesn't = ignorant. Those so-called "cool people" are just that. I always take food home and I can afford to waste.

[Mr.Lum]

Shit, what if you want it later? It's not cool to be hungry.

[SunWuKong]

my paternal grandmother and mother always told me not to waste food when i was growing up. my grandparents saw people starve to death during the Japanese occupation. my mother was just really poor when she was growing up. it's a good habit, but the negative aspect of it is that i always psychologically felt like i had to finish all the food in front of me, which has made me pretty chubby. :tongue:

[bigwong235]

i've never had my rents explicitly tell me not to waste food, but it's in my head that i shouldn't. like they've never told me about being poor or anything growing up, but it still just feels so wasteful to leave food out.

i think most of it comes from me just being fat and wanting to eat a lot. :redface:

[John0101]

I got those stories about how my parents were so poor they only ate a bowl of rice a day, etc... I see my parents and grandparents waste food all the time even though they were poor in china.

So, i'm one of those selfish pricks who waste food.

What is a m.b.t?

[sinisterpanda]

mmmmm pig fat on rice!!!! I can't waste food, i always take it to go. I feel bad or i feel hungry again 30 minutes later.

But I can't believe that a negative connotation got put with taking food to go.

Has anyone heard the story where if you don't finish all the rice in your bowl you'll marry someone with a lot of pimples/ugly face?

[fossilfuel]

Has anyone heard the story where if you don't finish all the rice in your bowl you'll marry someone with a lot of pimples/ugly face?

My mom used to tell me for every grain of rice I waste, I'll be forced to eat a maggot when I get to the afterlife (implying I'm going to hell I guess?).

I'll take the maggots over a pimply wife though

[AliBabaIncorporated]

when we had fish, there would always be somebody to finish off the fish head.
Funny thing is, I actually like eating fish heads. My family's not rich, but there's no starving poverty within living memory. You have to be a blatant idiot to be unsuccessful at farming in Malaysia, and we didn't suffer as much as China in the war. So I never got this thing about eating every grain of rice off your bowl or whatnot. But my girlfriend's family friend saw me eat a fish head once, and then he goes and tells her parents I'm low class and cheap and came from a poor family with uneducated parents who couldn't even afford to feed me. Asshole.

[VV o n g B a]

i don't mind wasting food. my mom always drilled into me about not wasting food, but i didn't listen. i'll certainly get a doggie bag, but i don't mind leaving bits and pieces of food on my plate. it has nothing to do w/ being rich or poor either. i simply don't care about the food. it's not a priority. if i'm doing something interesting, i'll just forget about eating.

and if u try to give me a guilt trip about the kids in africa, i don't feel anything. its not like food that i waste in america was ever going to africa in the first place. certainly, life sucks for those who can't get food (my parents were in this position) but nothing i do, eating-wise, is gonna affect jack.

and anyways, doctors say that parents shouldn't tell kids not to waste food cuz if they take it literally, they're more likely to get fat.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

Shit, what if you want it later? It's not cool to be hungry.

Yea me too. As a broke-ass college student with no cooking skills, I save leftovers from everything, and I mooch whenever I can.

[rice cracker]

When I lived with my mom, wasting food was a big no-no. So I always forced myself to finish my plate. Then when I went to live with my dad (white, for those who may not know), my grandmother stuffed me so much that I couldn't finish, and I almost started crying because I was so full. I said, "I'm sorry, I just can't eat any more." And grandma was like, "Oh! Then throw it away!"

I got really used to wasting food after that. I just can't eat everything that's in front of me, like, restaurant portions are just too big. Also, I don't like leftovers, because I'm a picky eater, couple that with not being able to eat the whole meal, and what's left over is the bits I didn't want to eat because they're a side dish or filler or yucky (like slimy onions), and a lot of food just doesn't taste good to me reheated. When I'm at home I make what we can eat, and if we do have leftovers, Rad eats them.

[sinisterpanda]

I'll take the maggots over a pimply wife though

Maggots taste like throw up btw!

[applehead]

it's a good habit, but the negative aspect of it is that i always psychologically felt like i had to finish all the food in front of me, which has made me pretty chubby. :tongue:

same with me too.
except i don't think it's a good habit at all.
i think it's a terrible terrible thing
to teach your kids.

my parents never told me stories like that
but my mom guilt tripped me into finishing my food
with the "there's starving kids in africa." bit.
my mom eats food because she says it's too small
to store in the refrigerator for later, or because
it's too much to just throw away. and she'll eat it
while complaining her stomach is so full.
i think that's so ignorant. sorry mom. it is.

i still feel like i have to finish my food
even when i'm fuuuuuull.
and it's a bad bad habit.
i don't want my children to have issues with food
when they're growing up.

i don't know why i ask for doggy bags.
it never gets eaten at home.

[seanp]

My parents and grandparents were pretty well off in Vietnam, when the fall of Saigon happened, my family moved to USA by boats (REAL FOB here haha). My parents always tell story about the hardship in escaping in the sea with few supplies of food and fear of Thai and arriving in unknown places, and how 1/3 of the refugees died in the sea. Oh and my grandparents used to nag me to NOT leave out any rice out of the bowl when i was small.

[fossilfuel]

same with me too.
except i don't think it's a good habit at all.
i think it's a terrible terrible thing
to teach your kids.



It's a good habit if people have sane portions, or at least just order only what they can eat.

In this country it's all about piling on the food - supposedly the portions in France are a lot smaller than here and that's why the people are healthier.

I can personally attest to the fact that portions are way smaller in most places in Asia for a typical lunch or something. Some people may view that as a negative, but I thought it was great.

People here feel like they have to have a trough or otherwise it isn't a good bargain. If there are complaints about "big American appetites" then people can just order 2 dishes or extra appetizers or something.

Cleaning off your plate + super size me attitude = fatties though

[kimpossible]

This thread brings up many a memory of being forcefed refridgerator dregs everytime I visited my grandparents.

[applehead]

It's a good habit if people have sane portions, or at least just order only what they can eat.

In this country it's all about piling on the food - supposedly the portions in France are a lot smaller than here and that's why the people are healthier.

I can personally attest to the fact that portions are way smaller in most places in Asia for a typical lunch or something. Some people may view that as a negative, but I thought it was great.

People here feel like they have to have a trough or otherwise it isn't a good bargain. If there are complaints about "big American appetites" then people can just order 2 dishes or extra appetizers or something.

Cleaning off your plate + super size me attitude = fatties though

ew. no way.
when you're young, you don't have control over your portions.
you eat what they give you.
and forcing kids to finish their food even when they say they're full because
it's waste to throw it away is a bad habit.

[so_fee_ahh]

Omg, this reminds me of a funny incident when I was little. My grandma was the typical Asian grandmother who always reminded you to eat all that was on your plate. I remember one night, she kept forcefeeding me...this must've been like, when I was around 6 or 7. Anyway, I was getting frustrated cuz I was one of those skinny kids who never ate anything (they used to call me Olive Oyl, you know...Popeye's skinny chick)...I looked really anorexic and all I wanted to do was just run around and play around with my other cousins.

Well, she was nagging me and started yelling at me what a bad kid I was, blah blah. Soo...haha, five seconds before I knew what was about to happen...I downed all the food on my plate...and started edging near her...she was all smiles of course :smile: (another obedient grandchild down, three more to go!) I got so close to her and next thing she knew, I BARFED ALL OVER HER NICE expensive silk shirt. AHAHAHA! That made my night...I was a bad kid, all right. But at least I finished all on my plate. :wink:

[fossilfuel]

ew. no way.
when you're young, you don't have control over your portions.
you eat what they give you.
and forcing kids to finish their food even when they say they're full because
it's waste to throw it away is a bad habit.

I think we're thinking about different things here. I'm not a proponent of cleaning your plate when you are obviously too full.

But I'm certainly against preparing too much food, or buying too much and then throwing the rest away consistently. Those parents should learn how much the kids can reasonably eat or deal with leftovers.

When people are adults, they control their own portions. they should learn how much they can reasonably eat, or order something smaller - don't go getting the 1 lb steak plate when you can only eat 8 ounces and then chucking the rest away.

Anyway, my real peeve are egregious wasters of food - where people will just stack plates of extra food and then toss it like it was trash - happens at almost every buffet you go to.

And yes I'm aware that sometimes people don't realize how big portions can be at restaurants, I'm certainly not Nazi-ish about this whole thing.

[kasia]

I think we're thinking about different things here. I'm not a proponent of cleaning your plate when you are obviously too full.

But I'm certainly against preparing too much food, or buying too much and then throwing the rest away consistently.

yes, that or not finishing your bowl of rice at dinner because you're too lazy to pick up the bowl and scrape the pieces of rice together even though you're going to have to order more food b/c you're still hungry. a lot of it stems from laziness. taking two bites of a drumstick and then reaching for another when there is still meat on the one you originally took.

the starving kids on africa bit doesn't get to me. but the 'my grandma had to pick up grains of rice from the ground to have enough bowls for her children' does.

[AngryABCGirl]

I still can't stand to waste food cause of what my parents drilled into me, even though I can definitely afford to it. I still do things like put newspapers on top of the table when I eat even though I live in a nice apt in a white town and put water in the rice cooker dish so I can scrap up every piece so nothing's wasted.

[SunWuKong]

well, the thing is, if you're eating after you're full, you're wasting food anyway. it's not like if you eat more one day, the next day you can stand to eat less. it doesn't work like that.

funny thing about my grandmother. when i went back to HK to live, she would tell me i'm fat (not as an insult, but just as a matter-of-fact), but then she kept telling me to finish the food even though i said i'm full. i pointed out the irony to her, and she laughed. :tongue:

[deez nuts]

my parents never told me stories like that
but my mom guilt tripped me into finishing my food
with the "there's starving kids in africa."


my mom used to say that to me when i was a little kid and i replied to her, "i don't care what's going on in africa." i've always thought that was the stupidest thing a chinese mom can say to her chinese son and she said it in fucking mandarin no less.

nowadays as adults, when my brother and i go out to eat with our friends, we finish what we ordered and whatever that is leftover from our friend's plates. those starving kids in africa won't be getting any no leftovers from us and mother wouldn't have to worry about the starving kids in africa anymore.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

The kids in Africa would all be a hell of a lot better off if we ate less, especially poor and elderly people. Lower medicare and medicaid expenses related to gross obesity mean more budget for foreign aid.

[applehead]

oh. i used to be really bothered by that starving
kids in africa bit until one day i was eating at my
friend's house and her older brother said
how is me stuffing my face helping kids in africa
not starve.
and then like, a lightbulb went off in my head
and i realized it didn't make sense.

[ChinaLama]

the simple way to prevent wasting food and not get fat is to NOT GIVE YOURSELF BIG PORTIONS!

I fucking hate it when people use as an excuse to waste food, because it's not healthy to eat a lot. well, then, don't order a huge dish then. geez. or what's wrong w/ leaving some for the next morning?

Wasting food is bad because someone had to do some work and spend resources to provide it, which often harms the environment. so if you waste food, you're making Captain Planet cry.

[BeTheReds]

I got more of the don't waste your food rhetoric from my white grandparents who grew up in the depression rather than anyone on my korean side.

[sageb1]

my parents survived the depression. my dad hates turnips to this day. but lately there's been less leftovers in my mum's fridge.

however, if you look in my fridge, you'd think i was starving.

hm i think there should be a think and grow rich thread started soon...

[Emperor_Mike]

I can't bring myself to waste food either, which is why whenever I go out for lunch or dinner I usually end up taking stuff home with me. Why should good food be thrown away if you can enjoy it the next day or pass it off to a homeless and hungry person? Of course, if you do the latter you have to make sure that the leftovers haven't been picked to pieces or otherwise mutilated beyond recognition.

[mourning miso]

i don't like to leave left-overs when the meal is home-made, especially when it's at someone else's home. i used to follow my parents to bible studies when i was younger, and i made sure i ate everything that was given to me even if i was already feeling full. it's just out of courtesy to whoever cooked the food.